>> our world needs a few people like this

                     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Carton_de_Wiart

> For what purpose?

Short answer: To make it a better place (of course) :-).

Longer answer: Have you read the Wikipedia page?
Without having done so, no sensibly short answer would do justice to
the question.

Longest answer: I'm about 50% of the way through his autobiography
"Happy Odyssey" - . Recommended.

You may even manage to approve a liitle of a commander with one eye
and one arm (the others having been destroyed in previous battles) who
went into battle armed only with a walking cane. And managed to win a
Victoria Cross - probably while "armed" in this manner. Churchill
named him "Salamander" -  a title he only otherwise bestowed on NZ's
later Governor General Lord Freyberg (VC, DSO & bar )(and that was
just in WW1). (Carton de Wiart was also awarded a VC in WW1, but
forgets to make mention of it in his autobiography). See "VC" at end.

Men (and women) "at this level" evince a degree of bravery, calm cool
and collected behaviour and generally superhuman performance in the
face of the severest levels of  physical & mental stress and in the
repeated exposure to  potentially imminent death. It may not be
possible to work out what drives and enables them, but even standing
near them at a remove of 50 to 100 years has the ability to  assist
ones own personal development. I dislike killing living things of any
sort for any purpose (large discussion in its own right) I've never
killed anyone and hope not to ever do so, hope to fight in 0 wars in
this lifetime, have directly saved vanishingly few lives (maybe a few,
maybe not), and seek to and hope to contribute substantially to the
lives of "my fellow man". I deem that standing near enough to a
warmonger such as this in the corridors of time to be able to read a
little of his mind and be infected a little by the positive aspects of
his spirit is liable to be of net worth to me in my endeavours. YMMV.
((I had a ~ great Uncle, also a VC,  who may have been braver than
Carton de Wiart but didn't have the same breadth or depth overall, and
he would have had no time for canes in battle - the sort of man that
you don't wish to stand too close to in battle, regardless of which
side you were on. ))


  Russell


VC: To provide some perspective, it's probably somewhat harder to
receive a Victoria Cross than a US Medal of Honour. Criteria have
varied over the years.
Most VCs may or may not come from Sevastopol and or China.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross

         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor

The VC is solely a military award - Civilians and very very very brave
islands* are eligible for the George Cross.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cross

It's probably appreciably harder to obtain a George  Cross than a VC
or a Medal of Honor.
Being an island may help but so far only one has managed.

* Flag of Malta     http://www.eurovisionary.com/files/images/Malta%20flag.=
jpg
   Item in top left corner is a George Cross.
   Know why.
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